Layup Lines: Plum in the desert

Happy Wednesday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA. I hope you had plans last night because both games were terrible, but we did go 2-0 on our bets.

• Turns out the Fever are still a different team without Caitlin Clark and the Liberty are still incredible (more on that later).

Scheduling note: The W is off tomorrow and so are we. See you back here Friday!

This 481 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.

Bets of the day

We’re 26-25 this season and have $1,028 of our initial $1,000 left to wager. That’s right — if you tailed Layup Lines for all 51 bets so far this year, you can now buy a dinner for two at Applebee’s on the house. Wealth creation, ladies and gentlemen. That’s what it’s all about.

• There are three games today and they all start at 10pm ET. Does this make any sense? No. But it happens sometimes in a league with only 13 teams.

  • Out of Los Angeles @ Las Vegas (CBSSN), Dallas @ Phoenix (League Pass) and Minnesota @ Seattle (League Pass), I like two games tonight.

    • Kelsey Plum played terribly in her return to Las Vegas for the first time as a Spark a few games ago but is also a dog who should clear her season average.

      • Bet: Kelsey Plum 21+ points scored, $50 to win $45.

    • We’ve done well fading the Wings. Even though they get point guard Paige Bueckers back tonight from a concussion / illness, the Mercury are in a good spot with the return of Alyssa Thomas.

      • Bet: Phoenix -6.5, $50 to win $43.

    • The Lynx should be favored by more than 4 points and 155 total points is really low. The last game of the night smells like the oddsmakers are up to no good and we’re going to pass.

Good reads from around the league

• Irish Goodbye (Allie Quigley, The Player’s Tribune)

• Ten Things To Know: A FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Primer (Winsider)

• WNBA Power Rankings (ESPN)

• Who is Ellie the Elephant? A day with the New York Liberty icon (ESPN)

Incredible stat to go

• The Liberty have been banged up at the center position but still crushed the Sky last night and are now 9-0. Both New York and Minnesota are now squarely in play for 13-0, which would tie the 2016 Lynx for the best start in WNBA history.

• Here’s something that might be more impressive, via UnderdogWNBA:

  • Highest point differential over first nine games of season:

    • 2025 Liberty: +171

    • 2016 Sparks: +152 (won title)

    • 2017 Lynx: +125 (won title)

Thanks for reading Layup Lines. You don’t need to bet for odds to be interesting, but if you do, please do so responsibly. We’ll see you back here Friday.

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor